<h2>LITTLE ONE-EYE, TWO-EYES AND THREE-EYES</h2>
<p>Once upon a time there was a Woman, who had three daughters, the
eldest of whom was named One-Eye, because she had but a single eye,
and that placed in the middle of her forehead; the second was
called Two-Eyes, because she was like other mortals; and the third,
Three-Eyes, because she had three eyes, and one of them in the
centre of her forehead, like her eldest sister. But, because her
second sister had nothing out of the common in her appearance, she
was looked down upon by her sisters, and despised by her mother.
"You are no better than common folk," they would say to her; "you
do not belong to us"; and then they would push her about, give her
coarse clothing, and nothing to eat but their leavings, besides
numerous other insults as occasion offered.</p>
<p>Once it happened that Two-Eyes had to go into the forest to tend
the goat; and she went very hungry, because her sisters had given
her very little to eat that morning. She sat down upon a hillock,
and cried so much that her tears flowed almost like rivers out of
her eyes! By and by she looked up and saw a Woman standing by, who
asked, "Why are you weeping, Two-Eyes?" "Because I have two eyes
like ordinary people," replied the maiden, "and therefore my mother
and sisters dislike me, push me into corners, throw me their old
clothes, and give me nothing to eat but what they leave. To-day
they have given me so little that I am still hungry." "Dry your
eyes, then, now," said the wise Woman; "I will tell you something
which shall prevent you from being hungry again. You must say to
your goat:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"'Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, appear!'</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>"and immediately a nicely filled table will stand before you,
with delicate food upon it, of which you can eat as much as you
please. And when you are satisfied, and have done with the table,
you must say:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"'Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, depart!'</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>"and it will disappear directly."</p>
<p>With these words the wise Woman
went away, and little Two-Eyes thought to herself she would try at
once if what the Woman said were true, for she felt very hungry
indeed.</p>
<div class="figcenter"><SPAN href= "images/179.png"><ANTIMG width-obs="100%" src="images/179.png" alt=""></SPAN></div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, appear!"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>said the maiden, and immediately a table covered with a white
cloth stood before her, with a knife and fork, and silver spoon;
and the most delicate dishes were ranged in order upon it, and
everything as warm as if they had been just taken away from the
fire. Two-Eyes said a short grace, and then began to eat; and when
she had finished she pronounced the words which the wise Woman had
told her:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, depart!"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>and directly the table and all that was on it quickly
disappeared. "This is capital housekeeping," said the maiden, in
high glee; and at evening she went home with her goat, and found an
earthen dish which her sisters had left her filled with their
leavings. She did not touch it; and the next morning she went off
again without taking the meagre breakfast which was left out for
her. The first and second time she did this the sisters thought
nothing of it; but when she did the same the third morning their
attention was roused, and they said, "All is not right with
Two-Eyes, for she has left her meals twice, and has touched nothing
of what was left for her; she must have found some other way of
living." So they determined that One-Eye should go with the maiden
when she drove the goat to the meadow and pay attention to what
passed, and observe whether any one brought her to eat or to
drink.</p>
<p>When Two-Eyes, therefore, was about to set off, One-Eye told her
she was going with her to see whether she took proper care of the
goat and fed her sufficiently. Two-Eyes, however, divined her
sister's object, and drove the goat where the grass was finest, and
then said, "Come, One-Eye, let us sit down, and I will sing to
you." So One-Eye sat down, for she was quite tired with her unusual
walk and the heat of the sun.</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Are you awake or asleep, One-Eye?</i></p>
<p>Are you awake or asleep?"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>sang Two-Eyes, until her sister really went to sleep. As soon as
she was quite sound, the maiden had her table out, and ate and
drank all she needed; and by the time One-Eye woke again the table
had disappeared, and the maiden said to her sister, "Come, we will
go home now; while you have been sleeping the goat might have run
about all over the world." So they went home, and after Two-Eyes
had left her meal untouched, the mother inquired of One-Eye what
she had seen, and she was obliged to confess that she had been
asleep.</p>
<p>The following morning the mother told Three-Eyes that she must
go out and watch Two-Eyes, and see who brought her food, for it was
certain that some one must. So Three-Eyes told her sister that she
was going to accompany her that morning to see if she took care of
the goat and fed her well; but Two-Eyes saw through her design, and
drove the goat again to the best feeding-place. Then she asked her
sister to sit down and she would sing to her, and Three-Eyes did
so, for she was very tired with her long walk in the heat of the
sun. Then Two-Eyes began to sing as before:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Are you awake, Three-Eyes?"</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>but, instead of continuing as she should have done,</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Are you asleep, Three-Eyes?"</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>she said by mistake,</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Are you asleep, Two-Eyes?"</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>and so went on singing:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Are you awake, Three-Eyes?"</i></p>
<p>"Are you asleep, Two-Eyes?"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>By and by Three-Eyes closed two of her eyes, and went to sleep
with them; but the third eye, which was not spoken to, kept open.
Three-Eyes, however, cunningly shut it too, and feigned to be
asleep, while she was really watching; and soon Two-Eyes, thinking
all safe, repeated the words:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, appear!"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>and as soon as she was satisfied she said the old words:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, depart!"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>Three-Eyes watched all these proceedings; and presently Two-Eyes
came and awoke her, saying, "Ah, sister! you are a good watcher,
but come, let us go home now." When they reached home Two-Eyes
again ate nothing; and her sister told her mother she knew now why
the haughty hussy would not eat their victuals. "When she is out in
the meadow," said her sister, "she says:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"'Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, appear!'</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>"and, directly, a table comes up laid out with meat and wine, and
everything of the best, much better than we have; and as soon as
she has had enough she says:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<p><i>"'Little kid, milk</i></p>
<p>Table, depart!'</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>"and all goes away directly, as I clearly saw. Certainly she did
put to sleep two of my eyes, but the one in the middle of my
forehead luckily kept awake!"</p>
<p>"Will you have better things than we?" cried the envious mother;
"then you shall lose the chance"; and so saying, she took a
carving-knife and killed the goat dead.</p>
<p>As soon as Two-Eyes saw this she went out, very sorrowful, to
the old spot and sat down where she had sat before to weep
bitterly. All at once the wise Woman stood in front of her again,
and asked why she was crying. "Must I not cry," replied she, "when
the goat which used to furnish me every day with a dinner,
according to your promise, has been killed by my mother, and I am
again suffering hunger and thirst?" "Two-Eyes," said the wise
Woman, "I will give you a piece of advice. Beg your sisters to give
you the entrails of the goat, and bury them in the earth before the
house door, and your fortune will be made." So saying, she
disappeared, and Two-Eyes went home, and said to her sisters, "Dear
sisters, do give me some part of the slain kid; I desire nothing
else—let me have the entrails." The sisters laughed and
readily gave them to her; and she buried them secretly before the
threshold of the door, as the wise Woman had bidden her.</p>
<p>The following morning they found in front of the house a
wonderfully beautiful tree, with leaves of silver and fruits of
gold hanging from the boughs, than which nothing more splendid
could be seen in the world. The two elder sisters were quite
ignorant how the tree came where it stood; but Two-Eyes perceived
that it was produced by the goat's entrails, for it stood on the
exact spot where she had buried them. As soon as the mother saw it
she told One-Eye to break off some of the fruit. One-Eye went up to
the tree, and pulled a bough toward her, to pluck off the fruit;
but the bough flew back again directly out of her hands; and so it
did every time she took hold of it, till she was forced to give up,
for she could not obtain a single golden apple in spite of all her
endeavors. Then the mother said to Three-Eyes, "Do you climb up,
for you can see better with your three eyes than your sister with
her one." Three-Eyes, however, was not more fortunate than her
sister, for the golden apples flew back as soon as she touched
them. At last the mother got so impatient that she climbed the tree
herself; but she met with no more success than either of her
daughters, and grasped the air only when she thought she had the
fruit. Two-Eyes now thought she would try, and said to her sisters,
"Let me get up, perhaps I may be successful." "Oh, you are very
likely indeed," said they, "with your two eyes: you will see well,
no doubt!" So Two-Eyes climbed the tree, and directly she touched
the boughs the golden apples fell into her hands, so that she
plucked them as fast as she could, and filled her apron before she
went down. Her mother took them of her, but returned her no thanks;
and the two sisters, instead of treating Two-Eyes better than they
had done, were only the more envious of her, because she alone
could gather the fruit—in fact, they treated her worse.</p>
<p>One morning, not long after the springing up of the apple-tree,
the three sisters were all standing together beneath it, when in
the distance a young Knight was seen riding toward them. "Make
haste, Two-Eyes!" exclaimed the two elder sisters; "make haste, and
creep out of our way, that we may not be ashamed of you"; and so
saying, they put over her in great haste an empty cask which stood
near, and which covered the golden apples as well, which she had
just been plucking. Soon the Knight came up to the tree, and the
sisters saw he was a very handsome man, for he stopped to admire
the fine silver leaves and golden fruit, and presently asked to
whom the tree belonged, for he should like to have a branch off it.
One-Eye and Three-Eyes replied that the tree belonged to them; and
they tried to pluck a branch off for the Knight. They had their
trouble for nothing, however, for the boughs and fruit flew back as
soon as they touched them. "This is very wonderful." cried the
Knight, "that this tree should belong to you, and yet you cannot
pluck the fruit!" The sisters, however, maintained that it was
theirs; but while they spoke Two-Eyes rolled a golden apple from
underneath the cask, so that it travelled to the feet of the
Knight, for she was angry, because her sisters had not spoken the
truth. When he saw the apple he was astonished, and asked where it
came from; and One-Eye and Three-Eyes said they had another sister,
but they dared not let her be seen, because she had only two eyes,
like common folk! The Knight, however, would see her, and called,
"Two-Eyes, come here!" and soon she made her appearance from under
the cask. The Knight was bewildered at her great beauty, and said,
"You, Two-Eyes, can surely break off a bough of this tree for me?"
"Yes," she replied, "that I will, for it is my property"; and
climbing up, she easily broke off a branch with silver leaves and
golden fruit, which she handed to the Knight. "What can I give you
in return, Two-Eyes?" asked the Knight. "Alas! if you will take me
with you I shall be happy, for now I suffer hunger and thirst, and
am in trouble and grief from early morning to late evening; take
me, and save me!" Thereupon the Knight raised Two-Eyes upon his
saddle, and took her home to his father's castle. There he gave her
beautiful clothes, and all she wished for to eat or to drink; and
afterward, because his love for her had become so great, he married
her, and a very happy wedding they had.</p>
<p>Her two sisters, meanwhile, were very jealous when Two-Eyes was
carried off by the Knight; but they consoled themselves by saying,
"The wonderful tree remains still for us; and even if we cannot get
at the fruit, everybody that passes will stop to look at it, and
then come and praise it to us. Who knows where our wheat may
bloom?" The morning after this speech, however, the tree
disappeared, and with it all their hopes; but when Two-Eyes that
same day looked out of her chamber window, behold, the tree stood
before it, and there remained!</p>
<p>For a long time after this occurrence Two-Eyes lived in the
enjoyment of the greatest happiness; and one morning two poor women
came to the palace and begged an alms. Two-Eyes, after looking
narrowly at their faces, recognized her two sisters, One-Eye and
Three-Eyes, who had come to such great poverty that they were
forced to wander about, begging their bread from day to day.
Two-Eyes, however, bade them welcome, invited them in, and took
care of them, till they both repented of their evil which they had
done to their sister in the days of their childhood.</p>
<div class="figcenter"><SPAN href= "images/186.png"><ANTIMG width-obs="100%" src="images/186.png" alt=""></SPAN></div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h2>THE END</h2>
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